Herbalife India supports Bangalore delegation for International Children's Games (Children's Olympic)

Share: Tweet07
Jul
2012Company joins the effort of Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation to encourage young athletes at grass roots level.

(1888PressRelease) July 07, 2012 - Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), a global nutrition company, today announced its support of the Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation, an independent, non-profit, accredited, Special Mission Sports Foundation as the 14-member Bangalore city contingent prepares to participate in the 46th International Children's Games (ICG) scheduled to be held at Daegu- South Korea from 12th to 17th July 2012. The delegation was felicitated in Bangalore, by Ajay Khanna, country head, Herbalife India in the presence of other dignitaries such as Mr. BNS Reddy, DIGP, Dr. MP Ganesh, Mrs. Reeth Abraham and Mr. Ashish Ballal. In line with Herbalife's global philosophy of nurturing sports talents, Herbalife India has committed to provide the young athletes with nutrition support to ensure these athletes are in perfect health to deliver their best performance at the games. The 9-member football team from Bangalore will be competing with global teams at Daegu.

Wishing the delegation the very best, Ajay Khanna, Country Head, Herbalife India, said, "At Herbalife we are always looking for ways to encourage and grow the potential of budding athletes by providing them the support they need to hone their talents. We are humbled by this opportunity to contribute in a small measure towards the Olympic journey of these talented children who have been working hard to make a mark on the global stage. On behalf of the Herbalife India family, we would like to wish them well in their quest in Daegu,"

He further added, "I also want to congratulate the Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation for their effort to secure representation for Bangalore city at the games and their effort to encourage and train children at the grass roots level through initiatives like Bangalore School Games and Magic Feet initiative."

Speaking at the event, Elvis Joseph, Director, Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation, said, "We are happy that Herbalife India has decided to partner with us in this endeavour. We have a lot of young talents in India. However, we face challenges in terms of the infrastructure to ensure that the young children receive proper training and guidance. Our goal is to take a bigger contingent to participate at the most prestigious international events for children with the help of companies like Herbalife. In fact, we are working towards getting Bangalore to host the ICG in 2016, in their 50th year."

Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation has taken the task of promoting, nurturing and professionalizing sports from the grass root level to international standards, making its first historic representation at the International Children's games at Athens, Greece in 2009. The foundation has successfully sent the under 15 Boys football team at the 43rd ICG Athens Greece, 44th ICG Manama Bahrain, 45th ICG Lanarkshire Scotland and now the 46th ICG Daegu South Korea 2012.

The ICG, endorsed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has been hosting the Games since 1968.The games are being organized every year in different countries of a city hosted by the city Mayor or Governor inviting children from all over the Globe. It had taken 43 years for Bangalore City (first city from India) to participate at the most prestigious International Children Games. The Daegue ICG will witness participation of over 2000 athletes from 80 cities across 50 countries. To know more about the games, please visit http://www.icg-daegu2012.com/daegu/must.html

Herbalife India continues its association with youth icons cricketer Virat Kohli, badminton champion Saina Nehwal, India's very own boxing champion Mary Kom as well as budding athletes like Squash Champion Dipika Pallikal and tennis star Somdev Devvarman to encourage sporting talent and spread the message of health and active lifestyle. Herbalife sponsors over 150 sporting events, teams and athletes around the world. Herbalife's associated sports sponsorships also include the LA Galaxy, FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi amongst others.

About Herbalife Ltd.
Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is a global nutrition company that sells weight-management, nutrition, and personal care products intended to support a healthy lifestyle. Herbalife products are sold in 83 countries through a network of independent distributors. The company supports the Herbalife Family Foundation and its Casa Herbalife program to help bring good nutrition to children. Herbalife's website contains a significant amount of information about Herbalife, including financial and other information for investors at http://ir.Herbalife.com. The company encourages investors to visit its website from time to time, as information is updated and new information is posted.

About Bangalore School Sports Foundation
Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation was initiated in 2009, by Mr Elvis Joseph, a state and university medalist, sports promoter by profession with experience in project management, sports administration, turnkey projects, sporting events, training, business development & strategic planning. The Foundation is an independent, non-profit, special mission sports foundation created to serve the State and Nation with programs in Sports Promotion, Instruction, Research, Education, Leadership, Events and Service. The role of the Foundation is to prepare aspiring athletes such as Children, Physically Disabled, Intellectually Challenged, Young Men & Women and Professional Athletes for careers in sports.

Media Contact
Priyanka Bhattacharya
Gutenberg Communications


View the Original article

Santevia Water Systems Launches New Alkaline Water Pitcher

Share: Tweet07
Jul
2012 Santevia Water Systems, a division of Wellness Warehouse Inc (Delta BC), announced today their new Alkaline Water Pitcher for the North American market.

View the Original article

The Launch Of The New Style Kenco Singles Brewer

Share: Tweet08
Jul
2012The much anticipated Kenco Singles Brewer has, finally, been launched and is available to order.

(1888PressRelease) July 08, 2012 - Buckinghamshire, The much anticipated Kenco Singles Brewer has, finally, been launched and is available to order. It has been the talk of the industry for some time and has now arrived. The machine itself offers all the benefits of the existing system such as exceptional reliability, a wide range of drinks, genuine filter coffee and tea, offers consistent drink quality and simplicity of use. In addition to these features it has a significantly smaller footprint than the older machine. In the modern office where space is often at a premium this is very important. To this you can add the undeniably more contemporary look which allows this particular machine to look at home in the most modern of environments. As with the old brewer the new system can either be filled with water manually or plumbed into your mains water supply (plumbing it in means that you don't have to worry about having to constantly top the reservoir up with water). Fundamentally the Kenco Singles brewer is a very easy and cost effective way of dispensing high quality hot drinks.

This coffee vending system is a great option for offices, meeting rooms, reception areas and conference rooms. It has also found a niche in bars and pubs that perhaps don't do a large trade in tea and coffee but would like to provide some sort of decent hot drinks offer.

Alongside the launch of the new machine is the new cappuccino milk capsule. When used in conjunction with the espresso capsule this allows the consumer to produce a much more authentic (and larger) cappuccino style drink than is currently offered by the Kenco Cappio drinks capsule. Later in the year will also arrive the new Cadbury hot chocolate drinks capsule. Currently there is no launch date available but it is expected sooner rather than later. These two additions will expand an already enviable drinks range. Take the complete detail from our website: http://kencovending.co.uk/singles_machines.html

For more information about this updated system or on the new drinks available in the range email enquiries (

View the Original article

Chlorella Boosts Mucosal Immune Defense

Your saliva contains an immune boosting compound that acts as a first line of defense against infections and digestive troubles, but it may not contain enough to be effective. A human study has demonstrated that taking 6,000 mg of chlorella per day over a four week period significantly increased the production of salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA).  This finding is important for those who catch the latest bug, are under high stress, or struggle with ongoing digestive health issues.

It is vital that your saliva contain proper amounts of SIgA for front-line immune chores.  Your immune system needs it to form complexes with hostile germs, rendering them neutralized, so that they cannot attach to your digestive lining and wreak havoc with your health.

For example, if someone coughs or sneezes around you there can be plenty of airborne germs.  Once you breathe in some of these, then you swallow them.  Now they are in your digestive tract.  Your saliva is one of the first points of contact with potential invaders and it must have SIgA in it to defend you.  A person who easily catches “every bug” is typically lacking in SIgA as a baseline of function.

Your SIgA can also be suppressed on a short-term basis, typically from stress. This is one reason why people who are under stress are more prone to infection.  Another example is the stress of heavy exercise, which can also depress SIgA; this is why athletes or whole teams can get sick if they let their systems get worn down.

SIgA is often depleted in those with ongoing digestive problems.  Many times digestive problems start after a bad viral infection, which persists on a low-grade basis and uses up your SIgA trying to fight off the problem. In turn this reduces your digestive health and allows other germ gangs to take up shop.  Problems such as recurring tonsillitis, oral health issues, vaginal issues, Candida overgrowth, and overgrowth of other bacterial germ gangs are indicators of low SIgA defense. If problems persist then highly inflammatory conditions of the GI tract will follow including multiple food intolerance, celiac-like issues, and other inflammatory bowel disorders.

In short, SIgA can be depressed by stress on a short-term basis that places you more at risk for any infection.  It can be depressed on a long-term basis that also places you at risk for any infection as well as developing ongoing digestive health problems of significance.  As the years go by such digestive problems build on themselves, resulting in quality-of-life deteriorating issues.  People with repeated antibiotic use as children are at high risk for such issues as they get older.

The fact that chlorella can help boost up an important aspect of your immune system to help overcome these issues can help you to get over the hump and turn these important issues around.  I have previously explained the broad scope of chlorella as a nutritional super food, that chlorella can lower blood sugar and cholesterol, and that it is a helpful weight loss nutrient.  Thus, the reasons to have chlorella as part of your nutritional support team keep on growing.

Share:
Supplements that contain chlorella
Related Entries:

Green Veggies Help Train Digestive Immune System
Friendly Flora Help Train Your Immune System
Quercetin: A Rising Star for Nerves, Immunity, and Metabolism
Colostrum Prevents Immune Suppression Following Exercise
Friendly Flora Boosts Immunity
Bovine Colostrum: An Immune-Support Powerhouse
Colostrum, Digestive Immunity, and Digestive Repair

Other Health News

Pulling Data...

View the Original article

Olive Oil Intake Reduces Mortality

A study tracking 40,622 Spanish citizens over a 13 year period found that those who had the highest consumption of olive oil, compared to little or no consumption, had a 26 percent risk reduction in death from any cause.

The study also identified a 44 percent risk reduction in death from cardiovascular disease.  While olive oil is a monounsaturated fatty acid, it is known to work synergistically with essential fatty acids, such as DHA Docosahexaenoic acid Essential omega 3 fatty acid integral to the health of all cell membranes, nerve and brain function. Must be gotten through the diet via cold water oceanic fish or some very limited plant sources or taken as a supplement., to enhance their incorporation into cell membranes.

The bottom line is that olive oil should be part of the fat intake of a healthy diet, especially for those who are concerned about their cardiovascular health.

Share:
Supplements that contain DHA
Related Entries:

Other Health News

Pulling Data...

View the Original article

New animal model may lead to treatments for common liver disease

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) — Scientists at Texas Biomed have developed the laboratory opossum as a new animal model to study the most common liver disease in the nation -- afflicting up to 15 million Americans -- and for which there is no cure.

See Also:Health & MedicineLiver DiseaseCholesterolDiseases and ConditionsPlants & AnimalsExtreme SurvivalEndangered PlantsMiceReferenceHepatitisLiver transplantationKetone bodiesGallstone

The condition, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), resembles alcoholic liver disease, but occurs in people who drink little or no alcohol. The major feature of NASH is accumulation of fat in the liver, along with inflammation and functional damage. Most people with NASH feel well and are not aware that they have a liver problem. Nevertheless, NASH can progress to cirrhosis, in which the liver is permanently damaged and no longer able to work properly. NASH-related cirrhosis is the fourth most common indication for liver transplantation in the U.S.

NASH affects 2 to 5 percent of Americans -- roughly six million to 15 million people. An additional 15 to 30 percent of Americans have excess fat in their livers, but no inflammation or liver damage, a condition called "fatty liver" or the non-progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The study, published in the July issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.

"This is the type of model in which to develop mechanism-based therapies," writes Geoffrey C Farrell, M.D., of the Australian National University Medical School in Canberra, in a journal editorial.

Both NASH and NAFLD are becoming more common, possibly because of the greater number of Americans with obesity and its important health complications, type 2 diabetes, high blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart attack and stroke. In the past 10 years, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children. It was previously reported by other scientists that the prevalence of NAFLD and NASH in a cohort of middle-aged patients in San Antonio is 46 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

"It now seems likely that genetic factors, such as those important for diabetes and high cholesterol levels, are what determines why a small proportion of those with fatty liver develop NASH and its complications of cirrhosis and liver cancer," said Farrell.

In the new study, high responding opossums developed elevated cholesterol and fatty liver disease when fed a high cholesterol and high fat diet, whereas low responding opossums did not. High responders carry a mutated ABCB4 gene, which affects their ability to secrete excess cholesterol from the liver into bile which, in turn, transports the cholesterol to the intestines for excretion from the body. As a consequence, opossums with the mutated gene accumulate cholesterol in the liver and ultimately in the blood.

"We showed that the fatty livers of high responders contain a tremendous amount of cholesterol," said first author Jeannie Chan, Ph.D., of Texas Biomed. "The opossum is a new animal model for investigating the mechanism by which cholesterol mediates liver injury, which will lead to a better understanding of the role of dietary cholesterol in the development of NASH."

Co-authors on the study included Rampratap S. Kushwaha, Ph.D., Jane F. VandeBerg, and John L. VandeBerg, Ph.D., all of Texas Biomed; and Francis E. Sharkey, M.D., of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.

Texas Biomed, formerly the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, is one of the world's leading independent biomedical research institutions dedicated to advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research. Located on a 200-acre campus on the northwest side of San Antonio, Texas, the Institute partners with hundreds of researchers and institutions around the world, targeting advances in the fight against AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, parasitic infections and a host of other infectious diseases, as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, psychiatric disorders, and problems of pregnancy.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

View the Original article

Developing world has less than 5% chance of meeting UN child hunger target, study estimates

ScienceDaily (July 5, 2012) — Insufficient progress has been made in most developing countries to meet the United Nations' target of halving the proportion of children who suffer from hunger by 2015 compared with 1990 levels, according to a systematic analysis of data on children's height and weight, published July 5 in the Lancet. Although the nutritional status of children under five has improved overall since 1985, one in five infants and children in developing countries is still moderately or severely underweight, amounting to an estimated 110 million children worldwide. Another 148 million are mildly underweight.

See Also:Health & MedicineChildren's HealthDiet and Weight LossInfant's HealthScience & SocietyPublic HealthWorld DevelopmentEducational PolicyReferenceBody mass indexMicronutrientMalnutritionOverweight

The UN set the target as part of its Millennium Development Goals. This new analysis, led by Professor Majid Ezzati from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, estimates that while 61 out of the 141 developing countries studied are likely to meet this target, the developing world as a whole has less than a 5% chance of succeeding. Progress has been uneven between regions, with Asia and Latin America making the strongest improvements and sub-Saharan Africa falling behind.

Because nutrition has a strong effect on children's growth, nutritional status in children can be assessed using scores based on their height and weight relative to their age, called height-for-age and weight-for-age Z scores (HAZ and WAZ).

Researchers from Imperial College London, the World Health Organisation and universities in the US compiled HAZ and WAZ data from national surveys and other sources, and used statistical methods to estimate average Z scores and the prevalence of undernutrition (defined as insufficient food intake and absorption) for entire countries.

The results show that:

• The proportion of children classed as moderately to severely underweight fell from 30.1% to 19.4% between 1985 and 2011 in the countries studied. The prevalence of moderate to severe stunting (insufficient growth in height for their age) declined from 47.2% to 29.9%.

• South Asia, the region with the worst nutritional status in 1985, has improved considerably, but undernutrition is still a major issue. About one half of the world's underweight children live in South Asia, mostly in India.

• Undernutrition worsened in sub-Saharan Africa from 1985 until the late 1990s, when height and weight scores began to improve. The deterioration may have been due to economic shocks, structural adjustment, and trade policy reforms in the region in the 1980s and 1990s.

• In Ivory Coast and Niger, nutritional status was measurably worse in 2011 than it had been in 1985.

• Height and weight scores improved in all other regions, with the largest improvements in South Asia, East and Southeast Asia, and Southern and Tropical Latin America. The biggest improvement in children's height occurred in China and Vietnam.

• Some countries in Latin America, such as Chile, now have almost no undernutrition. The proportion of underweight children almost halved per decade in Brazil.

• As of 2011, about half of children in Burundi, Yemen, Timor-Leste, Niger and Afghanistan are moderately or severely stunted. More than one third of children in Timor-Leste, Bangladesh, Niger, India and Nepal are moderately or severely underweight.

This new study includes estimates of all levels of malnutrition, unlike previous analyses, which excluded children who were mildly malnourished. The statistics suggest that in most countries, the improvements are due to population-wide improvements in nutrition, rather than interventions targeting high-risk children.

Professor Majid Ezzati said: "Our analysis shows that the developing world as a whole has made considerable progress towards reducing child malnutrition, but there are still far too many children who don't receive sufficient nutritious foods or who lose nutrients due to repeated sickness. Severe challenges lie ahead.

"There is evidence that child nutrition is best improved through equitable economic growth, investment in policies that help smallholder farmers and increase agricultural productivity, and primary care and food programmes targeted at the poor. We mustn't allow the global economic crisis and rising food prices to cause inequalities to increase, or cut back on investments in nutrition and healthcare."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

View the Original article

Keeping the flu away: Synthetic protein activates immune system within two hours

ScienceDaily (July 6, 2012) — San Diego State University researchers at the Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center may have found the secret to helping the immune system fight off the flu before it gets you sick.

See Also:Health & MedicineInfluenzaCold and FluBird FluPlants & AnimalsBird Flu ResearchVirologyMiceLiving WellReferenceFlu vaccineAntiviral drugPathogenHPV vaccine

A new study published July 6 in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, finds that EP67, a powerful synthetic protein, is able to activate the innate immune system within just two hours of being administered.

Prior to this study, EP67 had been primarily used as an adjuvant for vaccines, something added to the vaccine to help activate the immune response. But Joy Phillips, Ph.D. a lead author of the study with her colleague Sam Sanderson, Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, saw potential for it to work on its own.

"The flu virus is very sneaky and actively keeps the immune system from detecting it for a few days until you are getting symptoms," Phillips said. "Our research showed that by introducing EP67 into the body within 24 hours of exposure to the flu virus caused the immune system to react almost immediately to the threat, well before your body normally would."

Because EP67 doesn't work on the virus but on the immune system itself, it functions the same no matter the flu strain, unlike the influenza vaccine which has to exactly match the currently circulating strain.

Phillips said while this study focuses on the flu, EP67 has the potential to work on other respiratory diseases and fungal infections and could have huge potential for emergency therapeutics.

"When you find out you've been exposed to the flu, the only treatments available now target the virus directly but they are not reliable and often the virus develops a resistance against them," Phillips said. "EP67 could potentially be a therapeutic that someone would take when they know they've been exposed that would help the body fight off the virus before you get sick."

It could even be used in the event of a new strain of infectious disease, before the actual pathogen has been identified, as in SARS or the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak, Phillips said.

Right now, the testing has been done primarily in mice by infecting them with a flu virus. Those that were given a dose of EP67 within 24 hours of the infection didn't get sick (or as sick) as those that were not treated with EP67.

The level of illness in mice is measured by weight loss. Typically, mice lose approximately 20 percent of their weight when they are infected with the flu but mice treated with EP67 lost an average of just six percent. More importantly, mice who were treated a day after being infected with a lethal dose of influenza did not die, Phillips said.

She said there are also huge implications for veterinary applications, since EP67 is active in animals, including birds.

Future research will examine the effect EP67 has in the presence of a number of other pathogens and to look closer at exactly how EP67 functions within different cells in the body.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

View the Original article

Above-normal weight alone does not necessarily increase short-term risk of death, U.S. data suggest

ScienceDaily (July 6, 2012) — An evaluation of national data by UC Davis researchers has found that extra weight is not necessarily linked with a higher risk of death.

See Also:Health & MedicineObesityDiet and Weight LossFitnessDiseases and ConditionsHypertensionChronic IllnessLiving WellReferenceOverweightDiabetes mellitus type 2Body mass indexHypertension

When compared to those with normal weight, people who were overweight or obese had no increased risk of death during a follow-up period of six years. People who were severely obese did have a higher risk, but only if they also had diabetes or hypertension.

The findings, which appear in the July-August issue of The Journal of American Board of Family Medicine, call into question previous studies -- using data collected when obesity was less common -- linking higher short-term mortality with any amount of extra weight.

"There is currently a widespread belief that any degree of overweight or obesity increases the risk of death, however our findings suggest this may not be the case," said Anthony Jerant, professor of family and community medicine and lead author of the study. "In the six-year timeframe of our evaluation, we found that only severe obesity was associated with an increased risk of death, due to co-occurring diabetes and hypertension."

Based on the study, Jerant recommends that doctors' conversations with patients who are overweight or obese, but not severely obese, focus on the known negative effects of these conditions on mental and physical functioning, rather than on an increased short-term risk of death.

By contrast, Jerant added that it is important for doctors to talk with severely obese patients who also have diabetes or hypertension about their increased short-term mortality risk and treatment, including weight loss.

"Our results do not mean that being overweight or obese is not a threat to individual or public health," said Jerant. "These conditions can have a significant impact on quality of life, and for this reason alone weight loss may be advisable."

In conducting the study, Jerant used nationwide data from 2000 to 2005 of nearly 51,000 adults aged 18 to 90 years who participated in the Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys on health-care utilization and costs. The surveys include information on health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

Body mass index (BMI), or weight adjusted for height, was calculated for each respondent. The study categorized people as underweight (BMI < 20), normal weight (BMI 20 to < 25), overweight (BMI 25 to < 30), obese (BMI 30 to 35) or severely obese (BMI > 35).

Mortality was assessed using the National Death Index. Of the 50,994 people included in the UC Davis analysis, just over 3 percent (1,683) died during the six years of follow-up.

The investigators found that severely obese people were 1.26 times more likely to die during follow-up than people in the normal weight group. However, if people with diabetes or hypertension were eliminated from the data, those who were overweight, obese or even severely obese had similar or even lower death rates than people of normal weight. Consistent with a number of prior studies, underweight people were nearly twice as likely to die than people with normal weight, regardless of whether diabetes or hypertension was present.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased dramatically in recent decades. An estimated one-third of all U.S. adults over age 20 are obese and another one-third are overweight. In addition to diabetes and hypertension, health problems associated with these conditions include heart disease, osteoarthritis and sleep apnea.

The relationship between weight and mortality is a controversial topic in public health. Although studies based on data collected 30 years ago showed that mortality risk rose as weight increased, analyses of more recently collected data, including the current one, call this assumption into question.

"Our findings indicate that the risk of having an above-normal BMI may be lower than in the past," said Jerant. "While this study cannot explain the reasons, it is possible that as overweight and obesity have become more common, physicians have become more aware of associated health issues like high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, and are more aggressive about early detection and treatment of these conditions."

Jerant said that the six-year period of his investigation limits the ability to make assumptions about the link between unhealthy weight and the risk of death over a longer timeframe.

"We hope our findings will trigger studies that re-examine the relationship of being overweight or obese with long-term mortality," said Jerant.

The study co-author was Peter Franks, professor in the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine. Franks and Jerant used public access data in conducting the study, which involved no external funding.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

View the Original article

Record number of Africans get AIDS drugs: UNAIDS

"A nurse at an anti-retroviral clinic gives medicines to a patient in the town of Winterton, South Africa, 2008. A record number of Africans now have access to drugs to control the HIV virus, but the continent must work harder to strengthen the lifeline, the head of UNAIDS says. (AFP Photo/Alexander Joe)" title

View the Original article

New optimism about stemming spread of AIDS virus

"background-image:url('http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/UBBR9X6vIejZeNKM9boHHA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MTIyMTtjcj0xO2N3PTE4MzE7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTEyNztxPTg1O3c9MTkw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/6c8ee3e40565ad13140f6a70670075e3.jpg');" width

View the Original article

Dogs May Mourn as Deeply as Humans Do

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 6, 2012 FRIDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- Jon Tumilson's dog, Hawkeye, was an important part of his life.

And, as it turns out, Tumilson was an important part of Hawkeye's life.

After the Navy SEAL was killed in Afghanistan last summer, more than a thousand friends and family attended the funeral in Rockford, Iowa, including his "son" Hawkeye, a black Labrador retriever who, with a heavy sigh, lay down in front of Tumilson's flag-draped casket. There, the loyal dog stayed for the entire service.

Hawkeye's reaction to his owner's death generated a lot of buzz online and in the media. But it's not unusual, according to pet experts, for some dogs to mourn the loss of a favorite person or animal housemate.

Grief is one of the basic emotions dogs experience, just like people, said Dr. Sophia Yin, a San Francisco-based veterinarian and applied animal behaviorist. Dogs also feel fear, happiness, sadness, anger, as well as possessiveness.

Dogs who mourn may show similar signs to when they're separated for long periods of time from the individual they're bonded to, she said. Of those signs, depression is the most common, in which dogs usually sleep more than normal, move slower, eat less and don't play as much.

The beginnings of such a strong inter-species bond between humans and dogs dates back some 15,000 years, when early man and the ancestor of today's dog roamed the Earth together.

Today, after thousands of years of friendship, there's a great deal of attunement between humans and dogs, not only in terms of comprehension of each other's gestures and body language but also emotionally, said Barbara King, a professor of anthropology at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

It's not just evolutionary logic, or reading peer-reviewed science literature that's convinced King that dogs (as well as cats) feel deep grief. Interviews with astute pet owners for her upcoming book, How Animals Grieve, and the power of observation, has also led her to this conclusion.

Case in point: a grainy video posted on YouTube that captured the image of a scruffy terrier running onto a busy highway in Chile to rescue another dog, hit moments earlier, by a car. As vehicles whiz by the terrier, he instinctively wraps his paws around the injured dog, dragging him off the road to safety.

"When you look at that sort of example, again, you see that these dogs are thinking and feeling creatures, and that sets the stage for grief," she said.

Through her research, King has found that in households with two dogs who've lived together for a number of years, some owners report that when one dog dies, the other gets depressed. Skeptics might point to a change in daily routine as the cause of depression or, perhaps, because the owner is upset and grieving. But King feels differently.

"The surviving dog is searching around the house for a lost companion -- looking in favorite places, going to places that they spent with their friend, very pointed actions that tell you the dog is missing his friend," she said.

In an effort to understand what dogs are thinking, researchers at Emory University in Atlanta are conducting brain scans of dogs using functional MRI (fMRI).

Gregory Berns, director of the Emory Center for Neuropolicy and lead researcher on the project, hopes their work will reveal secrets of the dog-human relationship, from the dog's perspective.

Even with high-tech tools, though, determining whether canines experience grief would be tough, he admitted, because he believes it's unknown how grief looks in the human brain. If it were known, however, Berns said researchers could then look for this emotion in the dog but it would require showing pictures, perhaps movies, of the deceased human or canine.

"It would be fascinating to figure out," said Berns, who normally uses fMRI technology to study how the human mind works. "If I were to speculate, I would guess that, like people, some dogs mourn and others don't."

King agrees. After all, she said, dogs possess unique personalities and react differently, even in the same situation. Whether a dog grieves hinges on a dynamic mix of life experiences, added King, including how they were raised and what their people or animal housemates were like.

If a pet mopes around the house after the death of a canine or human companion, Yin suggests the best thing owners can do is to get their dog's mind off the loss by engaging their pet in fun activities such as a game of fetch, brisk walks and play dates with other pets. "The activity depends on what the dog historically likes," she said.

Don't expect a quick fix. It may take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, pet experts believe, before a dog's spirits begin to lift.

More information

For more on canine behavior, visit the American Veterinary Medical Association.

View the Original article